What's in YOUR lunch bucket?

[inthefrey]

Folks that work outside your home, Do you make your own lunch or do you buy? Fixing my own these days. Saving over $200 a month. Takes 10 minutes.

 

[Batesmotel]

I always made my own. Usually made extra for dinner to save some as my lunch the next day. Sometimes a sandwich instead. 
 

Depended on if I had a microwave to warm things up or if I had a food thermos or eat cold. Different job site, different conditions, different food.

Dirt cheap. Good main course. Added an apple or banana and chips or crackers. Maybe a cookie. 
 

Couldn’t understand the guys that lived out of the Roach Coach. 

[deputy tom]

Yep, brown bagger here. A hard boiled egg, small can of V8, sandwich, pack of lances peanut butter crackers and a piece of fruit. Also a thermos of coffee. tom.

[inthefrey]

It just tastes better! Honey Ham, mayo, sliced Roma tomatoes, Swiss cheese, lettuce, a stripe of spicy brown mustard on the tomatoes , all in-between white artisan bread. Yum! Piece of fruit. ( Grapes, orange or Apple) I buy a box of cheese crackers and put them in small snack bags, a wedge of laughing cow cheese and a thermos of lightly sweetened iced tea. I throw a small 8 oz plastic bottle of water in the freezer the night before. Keeps everything chilled till lunch time. Less than $25 a week.

[Huaco Kid]

No lunch.  Big dinner.

Because I get a per diem, it's profitable.

[gwalchmai]

<conservative estimate> fast food lunch is about $10 nowdays.  $10 will make a pretty good brown bag, IMHO.

[crockett]

4 hours ago, inthefrey said:

Folks that work outside your home, Do you make your own lunch or do you buy? Fixing my own these days. Saving over $200 a month. Takes 10 minutes.

 

 

 

That sandwich looks good!

I don't work anymore, let alone outside, but I wish I did. Sitting on my ass all day long is extremely unhealthy.

I stopped eating fast food and going to any form of restaurant, bars or night clubs 8 years ago. Saving about 2 grand every month.

These days I eat very irregularly, basically only when I'm hungry, and that's not good either because I end up stuffing my face late at night and go straight to bed. Say hello reflux.

On an average day I have a salad for brunch, usually around 1 PM. I can't eat anything for the first 4 to 5 hours of the day.

Average salad look like this... romaine hart, sugar bomb tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, boiled eggs, red onion, in an aioli / lime juice dressing.

 

 

 

Brunch when I'm out and about in my minivan camper. Thing has a fridge and induction cooktop.

 

[Historian]

4 hours ago, inthefrey said:

Folks that work outside your home, Do you make your own lunch or do you buy? Fixing my own these days. Saving over $200 a month. Takes 10 minutes.

 

 

The place i live has a high cost of living.  Eating out every day for lunch is not something a good idea.

So I have a Stanly lunch pail!  And I love it!

Usually lunch is left overs from the previous night, small salad, whatever i can put in the box.   I have had some great lunches that way.

Today is left over pizza and salad!   I am really looking forward to it.

Lunch with stanly.

[Huaco Kid]

I got one of those Stanley pails.  I had planned on carrying test tools in it.  I can use the thermos.

I was just curious, and looked at the price.  Jeez, it was cheaper than just the thermos alone.

When I went back to buy another,  I found out that it was supposed to be just the box.  Someone had just stuck the thermos into the one I bought.

[LostinTexas]

Not so much. We never knew when or where we would be when we could eat.  I got up and left piping hot untouched meals more times than I care to remember as well.

Every once in a while we would try to cook at the station or one of us would bring leftovers from something or another.

The last ten years I was offshore and we ate way too good and regularly. Packed on a few pounds.

These days we eat much like Crockett, when we are hungry. Usually somewhere around 11AM and then around 5-6 pm. Neither of us has ever been much of a late eater.

[Maser]

We always have boxes of those Welch's fruit snacks in the cabinet.  I used to be able to keep them on the top shelf so the kids wouldn't woof through them all at once, but now at the age they are now, you can't exactly hide things on tops shelves anymore.

[Walt Longmire]

Back in my logging days it was elk or deer burger sandwiches and some fruit. If I was lucky there might be a few cookies or a piece of cake or pie for dessert. Now days in the KW I have one of those coolers that actually heats also. I just take leftovers and heat them up.

[MO Fugga]

2 hours ago, gwalchmai said:

<conservative estimate> fast food lunch is about $10 nowdays.  $10 will make a pretty good brown bag, IMHO.

For $8, I can get a fat ass bourbon brisket sandwich fries and a 25oz brew to wash it down with. 

Besides, if I stocked up on lunch stuff, the kids would annihilate it all in a day or two.

[Cougar_ml]

Typically, because my work schedule is whatever I want it to be, unless I am starving I go home for meals.  Sometimes that means I don't eat a lunch at all, but it usually doesn't bother me.  Eating out just costs way too much.
If I do eat out, it's to splurge.  I've got different things I get in different areas.  My favorite of which is Stewart's Meats in McKenna, WA.  They have amazing jerky and pepperoni.  Typically I grab a pound of buffalo pepperoni for myself (sometimes 2), a pound of regular for my father, a snack mix (smoked cheeses, pepperoni, and jerky all cut in little pieces and vacuum sealed) for my son.

Another direction I do work for a food truck guy.  I don't charge him for work, and he doesn't charge me for food.

 

Any other direction, I'll stop at a market or something and grab some cheap food (usually marked down salads or sandwiches if available)

[Borg warner]

When I worked construction, it would depend on the job. A lot of times there'd be a roach coach nearby and some of the Mexican hot roller trucks had XLNT food. Otherwise, I worked in Los Angeles and vicinity, and there were always really good places to eat. So it wasn't very often I'd have to pack a lunch but if I did, one of my favorite sandwiches to make was I'd get egg salad or tuna salad or chicken salad from a deli and just put a wad of it between two slices of bread. Quick and easy, no muss, no fuss. Then I'd add an apple or and orange and maybe some cookies or a bag of chips.

 

[GT4494]

We always had the "gedunk" or "Roach Coach" or the "delectable tidbits of savory items to eat"  truck...  

Problem was the woman who drove it had been ridden hard and put away wet many times.  One look and you lost any appetite you thought you had...  LOL

[MO Fugga]

4 hours ago, Borg warner said:

When I worked construction, it would depend on the job. A lot of times there'd be a roach coach nearby and some of the Mexican hot roller trucks had XLNT food. Otherwise, I worked in Los Angeles and vicinity, and there were always reallt good places to eat. So it wasn't very often I'd have to pack a lunch but if I did, one of my favorite sandwiches to make was 'd get egg salad or una salad or Chicken salad and just put a wad of it between two slices of bread. Quick an deassy, no muss, no fuss. Then Id add an apple or and orange and maybe a bag of chips.

 

Wow. Roach Coach. A term from another life. I'm from Tampa, did construction, and if it weren't for those folks, I didn't eat that day (never cared for bringing lunch). Almost 20 years removed, Roach Coach is a forgotten term for me these days, but there are a bunch cropping up here recently.

[janice6]

I don't do much these days.  I do look for excuses and sometimes simply drag the wife to a restaurant with me.

Restaurant food isn't very appealing to me but I like to get endless coffee and flirt with the waitresses while trying to encourage the other customers to join in our conversation.  I have great fun needling the wife while she berates me for obvious reasons.  Most of the time the waitress will join in and sit in our boot with us for a while.

My wife laughs and she just beams when she's happy.  I love to be with her, we have a hell of a good time talking together with others commenting too.  It's so much fun we usually stay for a few hours.

When the place is empty, we have so much fun talking with the waitresses.  Our favorite Denny's, the waitress during the day is also the manager.  We have such fun with her and when her daughter works along with her son it's a party.

Her daughter is such an outgoing person and quick to hug me while I insinuate that sometime I will take her on a date without my wife.  She, my wife, her mother the manager, all laugh at me for thinking I can do things I can't................  Maybe....

I spend $7 for coffee for me and my wife (then tip $20 more) meanwhile we get an afternoon of entertainment.  I hope with breakup a boring day for the workers with the tall stories and laughter.  I frequently sing lovesongs to my wife quietly as I can.  Sometimes people will stop on their way out and comment on past memories due to the songs.

Last time a guy sat at a table next to our booth with a younger woman.  He laughed at our banter and joined in the fun.  He wore a Santa Hat and had a big White beard to look the part.  We had a wonderful time talking with them. 

He asked how long we have been married.  The waitress jumped into the conversation and told him 63 years but knew each other for 65.  He told us he had a great time with us and it brought back memories of his wife of 36 years when she passed.  He told us he thought we reminded him of his days with his wife.  Good days.

Many times we make many friends in the course of a few hours without knowing their names but enjoy meeting them again at impromptu times.  

My wife and I keep an informal count of the people we can make laugh at us and our banter.  It makes us feel good to bring some laughter to strangers during their day.  Sometimes we hear that we sound just like their time with their spouses.  It often includes a smile from them.

I don't care much for the food except to quell the hunger I get at times.  I eat a Banana for breakfast with coffee.  I have to share the Banana with my dog or there is hell to pay. Then I don't eat lunch.  Just not hungry for some reason.  Most of the time I just pick and munch at little things.

My wife agonizes over the fact that she believes she must make me meals when I simply like "canned crap" and will eat strange stuff if it comes out of a can.

Damned if I'm not getting hungry now just thinking of some crap I bought with lots of fat and little food value.  When I gain a pound or two, I just stop eating for a while.

After the wife reads this and if she doesn't hurt me, I'm going to see what's for dinner - I hope it's Ribs - She makes such damned good Beef ribs!

 

[Mrs.Cicero]

Since I'm here on the homestead 90% of the time, I just go back in the house and eat leftovers.  This week it has mostly been Mexican Turkey Soup, which is a leftover of a leftover since the turkey was from Thanksgiving.  Today it'll be a salad with the last of the leftover venison roast.  A lot of days I don't bother eating lunch if I had breakfast.  I try not to eat unless I'm hungry.  Baking/Cooking/Eating when bored (and not hungry) leads to too tight clothes.

[Huaco Kid]

14 hours ago, MO Fugga said:

Wow. Roach Coach. A term from another life. I'm from Tampa, did construction, and if it weren't for those folks, I didn't eat that day (never cared for bringing lunch). Almost 20 years removed, Roach Coach is a forgotten term for me these days, but there are a bunch cropping up here recently.

Dump Trucks.

[Walt Longmire]

Luch bucket, lunch pail.......In my logging days it was called a "Nose Bag"

[Huaco Kid]

Ours come with whisky, cigarettes, and union propaganda.

[MO Fugga]

38 minutes ago, Walt Longmire said:

Luch bucket, lunch pail.......In my logging days it was called a "Nose Bag"

Ok.... I'll bite. Why a nose bag?

[Huaco Kid]

24 minutes ago, MO Fugga said:

Ok.... I'll bite. Why a nose bag?

[Swampfox762]

Now that I think back on it, most of the time I ate by myself while on the Line Crew.  I had a real fondness for Sardine Sandwiches.  Just white Bread and a can of those Thin Sardines, a Bag of Chips and a 32 oz. Mountain Dew.  Never knew that many people didn't like sardines.  Durin the winter it would be cans of Soup, or leftover stuff from the night before.  Use to wrap it up in Aluminum Foil and stick it on the manifold of my Bucket Truck for about 15 minutes before lunch.  The Soup too.  Just ate it out of the can.